Thursday is the fifth day of trial in St. Lawrence's corruption case, which is taking place in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

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Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence throws out the first pitch at the Rockland Boulders opening game on June 16, 2011, at the just-opened Provident Bank Park.(Photo11: Journal News file photo)Buy Photo

Ramapo Councilman Patrick Withers revealed on the stand today that he had audiotaped conversations with Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and others in town government, saying he did not trust the others and wanted his own statements during discussions of town finances captured accurately.

Withers, the deputy town supervisor from 2013 until the end of 2016, voluntarily shared those tapes with FBI investigators in the Ramapo corruption case and discussed some of them Thursday as they were played in court. The tapes included discussions regarding the financing of a new ballpark and transfers of money to support the town's general fund balance.

St. Lawrence faces a 22-count indictment charging him with committing securities fraud, conspiracy and wire fraud. The charges allege he falsely inflated the town's general fund to get better rates on bonds to finance the stadium and other projects, such as the Ramapo Commons townhouses on Elm Street, through a quasi-governmental agency, the Ramapo Local Development Corp.

Thursday is the fifth day of trial in his corruption case, which is taking place in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

Key testimony: Withers said he was lobbied hard by St. Lawrence to support a variety of matters related to the ballpark. At one point, after local voters had turned down a bond to finance the stadium, St. Lawrence enlisted several key supporters, including Kaser Town Clerk Allie Pinkasovitz and influential builder Isaac Lebovits, to approach Withers to try to enlist his support for issuing a five-year $25 million municipal bond for the ballpark's construction.

Withers said he and Councilman Yitzchok Ullman were initially going to vote against the new bond proposal or boycott the meeting, feeling that they should support the will of the people that had been expressed in the referendum vote against the stadium bonding.

He said ultimately though, in conjunction with the two key supporters, he and Ullman met with St. Lawrence and made a political deal where they agreed to support the bond. In exchange for their support, Ullman asked for more affordable pricing for the units to be sold in Ramapo Commons; Withers asked one of his then-employees at his bar and restaurant to be given a town information technology job, which she said she was qualified for, and more vacation time for two town employees.

Withers said he supported the bond but never reviewed a copy of it and its terms.

One audiotape played in court was of a town workshop meeting where board members discussed a $3.08 million revenue transfer from the RLDC that had appeared on the books for three years straight. St. Lawrence maintained an action by the state attorney general had delayed the sale of housing units, but he and Town Attorney Michael Klein assured the others that the the money would ultimately come through.

On another tape, St. Lawrence was heard speaking about the importance of having an robust general fund to impress the Moody's bond rating service, because a good rating would save the town money on lower interest rates.

Prosecutors also asked Withers about the more than $3 million in revenue Ramapo was listing as having been received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Withers said he attended a meeting in May 2013 where town officials explained to St. Lawrence "the money wasn't there," showing him a document that detailed that the paperwork for at least $2 million of the request was incomplete.

"He circled the number, folded it up and put it in his breast pocket," he said.

In the afternoon, Withers testified about a tape of a discussion in August 2014 regarding a $695,000 legal bill from the firm of Pannone, Lopes, Devereaux & West for the services of lawyer Teno West, who worked as bond counsel for the town. Aaron Troodler, then the executive director of the RLDC, wanted Ramapo to cover the fee.

The town ultimately gave the RLDC the money, but Withers said West told him the firm was not paid. Withers said he believed the money was used to pay down the construction loan for the stadium rather than to cover the legal bill. It was unclear if the bill has been paid since then.

Prosecutors in the morning had asked Withers, who formerly owned the Irelands 32 bar and restaurant in Suffern, if his business had ever been audited. He said the state audited him twice resulting in an agreement to pay additional taxes.

Later, under cross-examination, he said that after those audits he had to pay an additional $40,000 in sales taxes for a six-year period. He admitted he never disclosed that repayment requirement as part of his required financial disclosures as a town official.

Withers admitted some of the tapes he had made were of executive sessions of the town board, which are supposed to remain confidential.

Up next: Withers will be continuing to testify under cross-examination on Friday. The trial is taking place daily from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.